ironbound

English

Etymology

iron +‎ bound

Adjective

ironbound (comparative more ironbound, superlative most ironbound)

  1. (sometimes figuratively) Bound with, or as if with, iron.
  2. Rugged.
    • 1820, Charles Maturin, Melmoth the Wanderer, volume 1, page 150-151:
      He rose and went down to the kitchen, where he knew a fire was burning, and there the terrified servants were all assembled, all agreeing, as the blast came roaring down the chimney, they never had witnessed such a storm, and between the gusts, breathing shuddering prayers for those who were “out at sea that night.” The vicinity of Melmoth’s house to what seamen call an iron-bound coast, gave a dreadful sincerity to their prayers and their fears.
    an ironbound coast
  3. rigid; unyielding
    ironbound traditions

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for ironbound in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.)

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